Faith
by PhoebeRayne
Summary: A demonic serial killer is on the loose and the three sisters have to try to catch him before it is too late. In the meantime Piper has to figure out, where her heart really belongs. Piper&Leo.  Please review :
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I

Piper Halliwell felt the hot water of the shower running down her body, washing away her troubles for a few short moments. She closed her eyes and held her face into the pouring, hot water.  
The minutes passed and she just couldn't break free from this calming, relaxing sensation. She half expected that the water would now turn cold any minute and a smile crept onto her lips when she thought about Leo fixing their plumbing so many years ago. Apparently he had done a great job.  
"Leo." she sighed silently, melancholy.  
Then she suddenly had an odd, strangely familiar feeling – as if she wasn't alone, yet she wasn't worried. She poked her head around the shower curtain and gasped:

"Leo! What the hell are you doing in here!"  
He smiled at her a little embarrassed and replied calmly: "I need to talk to you, Piper."  
"Now? In case you haven't noticed – I am in the shower!"  
"Trust me, I did notice." her murmured barely loud enough for her to understand.  
"What did you say?" she demanded threateningly.  
"I said: I did notice, but it is very important. We have to talk."  
"Leo, couldn't it wait until I am done showering?"  
"Well," he gave her one of his challenging little smiles "I have been waiting for 15 minutes already – but you didn't seem to come to an end – the hot water supply you have in that house these days is really incredible."  
She squinted her eyes a little and focused on him. Not for the first time she asked herself if Leo was actually able to read her thoughts.  
"Pass me a towel, will you?" she growled at him.  
Leo grabbed a towel out of the vanity and tossed it towards her. Piper resisted the reflex to try to catch it (and at the same time leaving the "protection" of the shower curtain) and froze Leo and the towel instead. She then calmly grabbed the towel out of the air, wrapped it around her body and unfroze Leo.  
He gave her a disappointed look.  
"You didn't actually think I would fall for that, did you?" she asked accusingly.  
He shrugged his shoulders and gave her an innocent smile: "You can't blame a guy for trying."  
"Now! Out with you – I'll be out in a minute. Then we can talk."

Okay everybody. Just a short teaser chapter – please let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay everybody: I totally forgot to give you some additional information on the story:  
It (obviously) is set somewhere in Season 2/3. I changed Dan into being a police officer and Darryl's Partner, so I could fit him into the story better._

_Thank you for more opinions, on how you like the story so far. Enjoy reading._

When Piper walked out of the shower a couple of minutes later, she saw Leo sitting in her bedroom. She drew the bathrobe closer around her body, made a knot into the belt, took a deep breath and walked over to him. He was casually sitting on the armrest of the couch, slightly leaning back. His legs were stretched out and Piper involuntarily noticed how damn sexy he looked.  
"Now what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked curiously, before her thoughts could wander even more.  
He looked up to her and she saw his eye looking her over quickly. She suppressed a smile and forced herself to remember, that the chapter Leo was over and that she had opened a new one named Dan.  
"Have you heard about that serial killer? The one that has been slaughtering women all over the city?" Leo asked while Piper sat down in front of her dressing table, turning her back to him.  
"Who hasn't?" she gave back and looked at him in the mirror. "It's been all over the news for weeks now. And Dan told me that the police still doesn't have any clue about the murderer or how he chooses his victims." She was still watching Leo and she saw him flinch just a little when she mentioned Dan's name.  
"Well, we don't have a clue either, but we are pretty sure that he is a demon – and not a low-level one either. To hide his tracks that good and keep the word away from the streets he must possess a lot of power – and he must have scared a lot of people into keeping quiet."  
While Leo was talking Piper had started tweezing her eyebrows. She stopped for a moment to look at him again.  
"So why the rush all of a sudden? I mean, don't get me wrong, it is about time that someone stopped that psycho, but …" She left the sentence hanging in the air and turned back to her eyebrows.  
Leo watched her for a couple of seconds, and despite of the serious subject they were talking about he enjoyed this rare moment of intimacy with Piper. How beautiful she was, sitting there in front of her dresser, in her bathrobe. God, he missed her like crazy. He imagined how much more beautiful she would look without that bathrobe and…

"Leo?" Pipers quizzing voice woke him from his daydream.  
He blushed a little and said: "Sorry, I was just thinking. Well, the killer's last two victims were future whitelighters. And we don't think that this is a coincidence."  
"Really? But all his other victims were, well, normal mortals, right? That doesn't seem to make sense."  
"The Elders think, that the demon builds up his powers. He has killed eight women so far: Six innocents and two whitelighters. The theory is that he is going to kill four more whitelighters and then he will move on to the final step."  
"Killing witches…" Piper whispered. Leo nodded and they both stared at each other for a moment, while this revelation settled in.

In that moment someone knocked at the door and without waiting for an answer Dan cheerfully entered the scene – and froze (though not due to Piper's powers) when he saw Leo.  
"What the hell…?" He started saying, and then added angrily. "Am I interrupting something?"  
Piper, who just remembered that she was still wearing a bathrobe and how odd this must look hurried to say:  
"Dan, of course not. I am glad you came. Leo and I were just talking."  
"Right! And you just happened to take a shower right before he showed up and there wasn't time to get dressed, I assume." Dan said acidly and shot a venomous look at Leo.  
Leo said nothing, just returned his gaze calmly.  
"What are you implying, Dan?" asked Piper threateningly. Although she could understand, that Dan was angry about the whole situation she felt more than just a little offended that he actually thought, she would cheat on him.  
Dan turned his look away from Leo and focused Piper, who proudly held his gaze until he broke it off, turned around and left without another word.

Piper let out the breath she hadn't even noticed she was holding. And sighed.  
"Great!" she exclaimed.  
"I am sorry Piper, that I got you in trouble again." Leo said apologetically. "But I am sure you can explain it to him."  
"Yeah right." said Piper. "How about: Oh darling, it really wasn't the way it looked like? No? How about: "Well, you know, Leo just orbed into the bathroom while I was in the shower and so?"  
"Yeah, I guess that won't work, huh?" said Leo with an excusing little smile.

_Are you enjoying the story so far? Please let me know _


	3. Chapter 3

Later that night, Piper and Leo told Prue and Phoebe about the new development in the serial killer case. The four of them decided, that they couldn't come up with any plan until they found out more about the demon killer and his goals.  
They split up for information gathering: Phoebe and Leo went to visit the last crimes scenes in the hope that they might find something there or that Phoebe would have a premonition.  
Since Piper didn't think it wise to show up at the police station after what had happened with Dan earlier, Prue headed out to talk to Darryl Morris and see what he knew about the whole affair.  
Piper went up to the attic to find something in the book of shadows that would help them somehow.

Piper was still flipping through the pages of the Book of Shadows when she heard the door bell. She went downstairs and opened the door – it was Dan.  
"Hey." she said slightly surprised. After what had happened today she hadn't expected to see him again for at least a day or two.  
"Hey." he repeated back and added: "I thought you would come over tonight." He sounded hurt.  
"Well, after today I thought it best to give you some time to cool down."  
He looked at her for a few moments and then asked: "Can we talk?"  
Piper hesitated. "Dan, right now is not really a good time…." She honestly didn't really feel like having another discussion about Leo and their relationship and about all the things she wasn't telling Dan and she also wanted to go back to her research.  
"Well Piper, that is what you should have said to Leo this afternoon!" Dan said angrily.  
Piper sighed.  
"Okay," she said. "I guess, I deserve that. Let's talk, then. But I really don't have much time."  
She opened the door completely to let him in and lead him to the living room.

"Listen, Dan." Piper started. "I know you are upset about today. And I understand that. But as I have told you before, Leo is someone who is part of my life and of my sisters lives as well and has been for a long time now. I can't just treat him like any stranger from the street."  
"Well, you don't have to treat him like your boyfriend either!" Dan snapped.  
"Dan,…"  
"Don't you get it? This guy has lulled you into trusting him and welcoming him in, but I know that he is up to something. I mean, why does he show up here all the time and at any time? Doesn't he have a job? Or a family, or something? And how does he even get here? I never see a car."  
"What?" Piper asked rather confused. "Dan, what the hell are you talking about?"  
"Piper, something is wrong with this guy and I want you to be careful."  
Piper shook her head in utter disbelief. "Dan, you are imagining things. Honestly. I am telling you, that nothing is wrong with Leo and he does not have any intentions other than to help me and my sisters. Trust me."  
"I think you are wrong. I can tell, when someone is hiding something and he definitely is."  
"Well maybe he is hiding something, but why do you think that he is hiding some kind of dark secret? Maybe he just doesn't want people to know about certain things in his life because he prefers to keep them private?"  
"Please, Piper, you don't actually believe that, do you? And what exactly is he helping you and your sisters with? You sure as hell never ask me for help." Dan said accusingly.  
"Dan," Piper said impatiently. "We have been over this before. "He is helping us with some family business, that he happens to know a lot about and we are just not ready yet, to share these things with someone else. And I want you to respect that for now – just like I respect that your work is confidential also and there are lot of things you cannot share with me either."

"That is not the same." Dan said defensively.  
"And why would you think that?" Piper now really started losing her patience.  
"Because it is not my call to decide whether I can share information about my job. I am bound to follow rules and regulations."  
"Well, we are too. Trust me!"  
Before Dan could say any more, Piper put an end to tonight's discussion:  
"Listen, Dan. I am telling you again, what I have told you many times before: If we want to be together, we have to accept certain aspects of the other ones life. I have to accept, that your work is dangerous and that your work hours suck. I have to accept, that Morris could show up at my door anytime to tell me that you have been shot. You on the other hand have to accept, that my sisters and I have a very strong bond and that Leo will always be part of our lives in some way. That is never going to change."  
Piper had the feeling, that Dan wanted to say more, but at this moment his cell-phone rang. He answered it and talked to the caller for a few minutes. He then ended the conversation with "Okay, I'll be right there."  
He disconnected the call and cursed silently. "There has been another murder – I have to go."

_Thanks for reading – I hope you're enjoying the story so far!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Everybody: Thank you so much for enjoying my story and for the great feedback as well!  
I really appreciate it!_

As soon as Dan had left Piper picked up the phone to let Phoebe know that there had been another murder. But she already knew. Apparently the newest victim had also been a future whitelighter – as expected.

Piper went back to the Book of Shadows. She had problems concentrating, because the whole Dan/Leo subject kept distracting her. Everything had been fine while Leo hadn't been around much, but lately he always seemed to find a reason to show up. It was not that she didn't like seeing him – it was more the contrary. She felt a connection between her and him and the more time she spend with him the stronger it grew. On the other hand she knew, that a relationship with Leo would be as good as impossible due to those rules the Elders had decided upon.  
Oh my God, she thought. This is leading nowhere. She forced herself to concentrate on the book again. She suddenly realized that she had been holding the same page for a couple of minutes now.

**Eternal Winter**

According to the Book of Shadows there was a ancient demonic ritual called Eternal Winter. It could only be performed by the highest ranks of demons.  
Like Leo and she had discovered earlier, the ritual consisted of a Demon killing six innocents, six future whitelighters and six witches. The last witch had to be killed on midwinter, during a total eclipse of the moon. Then, the demon would conjure the ancient powers of eternal winter for one year (whatever the powers of eternal winter meant).  
Piper's heart almost stopped, when she read the next sentence. If the demon killed the three Charmed Ones on midwinter, the sun would not be able to defeat winter and evil would rule the world forever.

Piper felt a chill running down her spine and was glad to hear the familiar tingling of Leo's orbs. He had Phoebe with him and they both told her, about their trip to the last crime scene. Unfortunately they had not been able to discover much. Phoebe hadn't been able to have a premonition and at tonight's crime scene they had ran into Dan, who seemed suspicious about them showing up at the crime scene. So they didn't have a chance to look around much.  
Shortly after that Prue also came home and she as well did not have much news. It seemed the police had even less information about the killings then they did. The victims seemed random to them, there was no pattern to where the women were killed, no motive, no murder weapon – nothing. The only thing they all had in common was the cause of death: someone (or something) had cut their heart out. 

After Piper had told them about her researches in the Book of Shadows they all sat in silence for a few minutes.  
"Today is December 14th – that means we only have one week to stop this." Prue said. "Are we really going to have a total eclipse of the moon on midwinter this year?"  
Leo nodded. "I'm afraid so."  
"So there was nothing in the Book about how to stop all this?" Phoebe asked a little desperately.  
Piper shook her head. "Nothing." She turned to Leo.  
"Do you think the Elders might know something?"  
Leo shrugged his shoulders. "They might. I will go check with them."  
Prue yawned. "Okay, guys, I am done for tonight. I will go to bed and hope that tomorrow is going to bring us a brighter day."  
"Yeah, me too." Phoebe joined in and they both went upstairs and left Leo and Piper alone in the living room.  
"I should go as well." Leo said. "I'm sure you're tired too and I should go and check with the Elders."  
Piper nodded but said nothing.  
Leo hesitated for a moment and then added: "Listen, Piper. About earlier, uhm, I'm sorry if I got you into any trouble with Dan. That really was not my intention."  
Piper looked at him for a moment. "I know. And it's okay, really. I know, that we still are really close and I sometimes get confused, too. But but I am with Dan now. You have to understand that."  
"I do understand that, Piper." Leo said softly. "And I am not confused at all. I know that I love you nothing is going to change that. But I respect you decision and I understand it but please, don't ask me to give up on us. I am not ready for that, yet. I still have faith – in us."  
He then gently touched her cheek and orbed out. 


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you so much everybody for reading and for giving me such great feedback. I know I have been a little slow with my updates the past week, but here is finally another short chapter.  
I promise I will put up the next chapter tomorrow._

Unfortunately the next day didn't look much brighter than the last. San Francisco's sky was covered with clouds that wouldn't let the sun through and the gloomy weather made the girl's feel depressed even more.  
Leo joined them for breakfast but before he could fill them in on his consultation with the Elders Dan also came over. His face hardened at the sight of Leo but he suppressed whatever was going through his mind and sat down at the kitchen table with them anyways.  
Piper tried to get some information out of him about last night's murder, but he seemed reluctant to talk about it.  
After an awkward half an hour Dan left and Piper brought him to the door.  
"What is he doing her again?" Dan asked furiously as soon as they were out of the kitchen.  
Piper sighed. "Dan, please! Not again."  
"Something is wrong with that guy, I am telling you. He is up to something."  
"Dan, this is really getting ridiculous and Leo is not up to anything."  
"Well, then what was he doing at the crime scene last night?"  
"What?"  
"The crime scene. I saw him there. Don't you think that is suspicious?"  
Piper looked at him in disbelief. "No." she said. "Didn't you also meet Phoebe there? Is that suspicious, too?"  
"Don't be ridiculous, of course not! I am worried about you, Piper. I don't want you to get hurt."

Piper gave him a mysterious half smile, thinking 'if you'd only know' and let the subject drop.  
He left and Piper went back to the others in the kitchen.  
"So, what do we do now?" she asked.  
"Well," Prue said "we really need to find out how we can stop this madness."  
"But how can we try to stop a demon if we don't even know who he is?" Phoebe sighed.  
"Phoebe, you need to go back to the crime scenes and try to get a premonition. Right now that is the only thing that can help us get some light into this case, or demon for that matter."  
"I will take you." Leo offered. "If you have to drive everywhere it's going to take you all day to get to all the crime scenes." 

Piper went to P3 for a while to check up on things, place orders and prepare the club for tonight's event. After that she went out and did some shopping, especially to fill up their declining herb supply. While she was out and about it starting raining heavily and by the time Piper was back home she was soaking wet. She dropped all her purchases off on the kitchen counter and went straight upstairs to take a hot shower.  
Once again she enjoyed the hot water on her body and once again not for long.  
Piper couldn't have been in the shower more than three minutes, when Phoebe stormed into the bathroom.

"Piper? Piper!"  
"For heaven's sake, Phoebe! I am in the shower!" Piper said angrily. Did nobody respected the privacy of a bathroom anymore?  
"Piper, we are in big trouble."  
"I am sure the trouble can wait a couple of minutes, Phoebe. I would really like to…"  
Phoebe cut her off. "Leo is in jail." she exclaimed.  
Piper's head shot out from behind the shower curtain. "What?" she asked shocked.  
"I am serious. Leo got arrested – by Dan."  
This day was just getting worse and worse. "I'll be out in a minute, Phoebe."


	6. Chapter 6

_I promised you another chapter for today and I almost didn't make it, but here it is. I hope you're still enjoying the story!_

A couple of minutes later Piper walked into the main hall. She had quickly dressed into a jeans and a sweatshirt and her hair was still partly wet. She had left it undone so that it would eventually dry off.  
Piper dangled her car keys in front of Phoebe. "Are you coming?" she asked impatiently.  
"Coming? Where are we going?" was Phoebe's confused response.  
Piper gave her a mocking look. "To the police station, of course. You can tell me what happened on the way. Let's go!"  
Phoebe grabbed her purse and they both headed out the door.

On the way to the police station Phoebe gave Piper a quick report about today's events. She had been checking out the crime scenes with Leo, when he suddenly was called by one of his charges. He had immediately orbed out, leaving Phoebe behind to check out the rest of the crime scenes.  
Half an hour later she had received a call from Darryl, who told her that there had been another murder and asked her to meet him at the crime scene immediately.  
When she got there, she found out, that Leo had been arrested, because he had been kneeling next to the dead body when the police had arrived. Dan, who already had been suspicious about Leo in general was convinced, that they might have found their murderer and nothing Darryl had said could convince him that Leo was innocent.  
Phoebe also tried to talk to Dan, claiming that she had been with Leo the whole day, but since there was no way of explaining how Leo had been able to get her more than half an hour before Phoebe if they had really been together the whole time, that really didn't help.

As soon as the two girls arrived at the police station, they were pulled aside by Darryl immediately.  
"Finally." he murmured. "Maybe you'll be able to talk some sense into Dan."  
"How bad are things, Darryl?"  
He looked at her sternly. "Actually, pretty bad. They took Leo's fingerprints and of course that brought up his old army records – including his death certificate from 1942. He is in the system now and it's not going to be easy to come up with an explanation for all of that."  
Piper nodded slowly and went to see Dan.  
His face darkened when he saw her. He cursed silently and said "Piper, what the hell are you doing here? I hope you're not here to tell me that _your_ Leo is completely innocent and that it was all a stupid misunderstanding."  
Piper squinted her eyes and looked at him for a second. "Actually," she said calmly, "that is exactly why I am here."  
"You got to be kidding me!" Dan said, grabbed her arm and pulled into an empty office. "Your friend Leo is a fraud – just like I have always told you! His fingerprints match the one's from a guy who died more than sixty years ago. We found him kneeling next to a victim, and a neighbor of that victim testified, that she has seen him around a couple of times doing handiwork around the house. He…"  
Before Dan could continue, Piper grabbed his hands and looked at him. "Dan, you really need to listen to me. I know for a fact, that Leo is completely innocent of that or any other women's murder. His records may seem really suspicious, but there really is a good explanation for all of this – I just can't tell you right now."  
"You're joking, right?"  
"Dan, you need to trust me on this one. Please. You need to let Leo go."  
"What is wrong with you, Piper?" now Dan was really angry. "I can't believe you are trying to use our relationship to get your ex-boyfriend – a possible serial killer – out of jail."  
"You always accused me, of not asking you for help. You always said, that I should trust you. Well, here is your chance to help me and to earn my trust: I can assure you, that Leo is not your killer. I know it, just as much as I know that I am not the killer myself. Please, you have to trust me, Dan. This is really important."  
He looked at her for a moment and then shook his head. "I am sorry, Piper. I can't."

Piper went back to Darryl and Phoebe. They saw her grave face and immediately knew that she hadn't been successful either.  
"Can I see him, Darryl?"  
Darryl sighed. "Sure, it's not like you'd accept me telling you, that it's completely against the regulations."  
"This seems to be an ongoing issue in my life." Piper murmured and followed Darryl to the interrogation room. He opened the door for her but hold her back, before she could step into the room. He leaned over to her and whispered. "There are cameras in here – so be careful, okay?".  
Piper nodded thankfully and stepped into the room.

Leo was sitting at a table, his head hanging down. When Piper said he name softly, he looked up and a tiny smile crept onto his lips. He looked devastated and his arms were cuffed on his back.  
Piper turned around to Darryl. "Can you uncuff him, Darryl?" Piper begged.  
Darryl hesitated only a second and then did as she had asked him. Leo gave him an appreciative look and Dan left them alone.

_Well, don't you think this looks like there is going to be a nice, fluffy Piper & Leo chapter next?_


End file.
